1. Add charcoal. This prevents gross things. (it’s also used in aquariums)

2. Add pebbles. (I put the pebbles on top of the charcoal because it is such a small terrarium and I wanted to keep the charcoal from the plant as much as possible.

3. Add sphagnum moss. This is a filtration layer, also helps soak up excess water.

4. Add cactus mix (dry so you can dust it off your plants). I recommend using a straw to gently blow off any excess soil, careful not to unintentionally cover your plant in soil in the process.

5. Put in Succulent. After the plant is in place you can wet the soil. Be sure that the plant is straight up and down. This plant has already started growing sideways. It’s best if they are symmetrical that way the plant does not expend excess energy to receive sunlight.

6. Decorate!!! I used small seashells and a seashell pieces. You can use tweezers to place shells or items in hard to reach places. Have fun!

This is one of my first tries at painting in photoshop. This scene is based on two stuffed animals my sister and I used to play with. The went on adventures together. This is the winter scene, I’m hoping to finish summer and spring next.

I have been drawing animals and hats every day for the past week. (or mostly everyday). This is the result. I enjoyed sketching, so finally I colored one. It’s fun to draw animals, and good practice too. I experimented with painting in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet as well.

1. Water succulents 1x per week, or when soil is dry. Harsh sunlight = bad.

2. Fertilize plants during the summer. (winter is down time for plants most growth happens during summer months with the most sun)

3. Be careful of tap water. Mineral build up can hurt plants. The fix is to repot them and change the soil.

4. If you are making a terrarium of succulents or a glass container with no bottom, you’ll want to layer your soil.

I also use the JuicyKits fertilizer. I keep a diluted version in this neat blue bottle and then pour a bit of it into the spray bottle to spray my plants.
This fertilizer also contains a pest control which actually works. One of my succulents came with mealy bugs and it solved the problem.

I bought this great toolkit from JuicyKits, here are some of the tools. (check the link for the full set.)

The straw helps to blow the dirt off your succulents without touching them. Certain types can be harmed by handling them directly.

The tweezers are useful for plucking out dead leaves without damaging the plant.

The odd spoon thing is for scooping soil and padding down soil. It helps for planting a terrarium.